Oakland County Sheriff's Aviation Unit

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The Oakland County Sheriff's Aviation Unit started on June 5, 2001, and continues to be an excellent addition to our crime fighting arsenal. Now comprised of two state of the art helicopters, the Aviation Unit was made possible through the privatization of the Oakland County Jail’s food service (saving $1.6 million a year) with no additional costs to the taxpayer.

Both aircraft are equipped with highly sophisticated avionics, electronics, and camera equipment. Although one aircraft is functionally parked/stored due to budget reductions, this aircraft remains capable of flying should the need arise.

The Aviation Unit is one of the most technologically advanced and efficient law enforcement tools. In an era when homeland security concerns are paramount to law enforcement and Oakland County residents alike, the Unit is an extremely invaluable asset. In 2013, the Aviation Unit responded to 257 calls for service.

The aircraft and their equipment are a “force multiplier” for law enforcement. One helicopter in the air can cover as much territory (more quickly) as 12 officers in patrol cars on the ground. The primary function continues to be that of support for ground units. The FLIR system(s), Night Sun search light, Broadcast Microwave down link, and the ability to communicate with every law enforcement and fire agency in the county serve as testimony to the tremendous asset the Unit provides. The mapping system is also capable of producing specific parcel data which makes property lines visible thereby making air to ground coordination much easier. Due to this equipment, the response time to calls has been reduced considerably.

The Aviation Unit is available to every Oakland County police department 24 hours a day, seven days a week and assists local police agencies with directed patrols on a regular basis. In addition, traffic/crowd control support was provided to local police agencies during the 2013 Dream Cruise where over 1.5 million people were in attendance.

The helicopters are invaluable in assisting in emergency situations, including:

Searching for suspects wanted for crimes such as rape, robbery, and other felony and misdemeanor crimes.

Eliminating the need for dangerous police car chases

Searching for missing children and Alzheimer patient walk aways

Conducting building searches

Crowd control

In addition, the helicopters assist the Oakland County Sheriff's Office Marine Division and Dive Rescue Team with search and rescue operations, as well as assisting the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) with tactical operations.

Special equipment on the helicopters include forward-looking infrared units (FLIR) that can detect heat sources in total darkness, and a 30 million candle power remote spot light called Night Sun because of its ability to illuminate a pitch-dark area as if it was high noon on a summer day. Most recently, the Aviation Unit equipped and trained
pilots in utilizing Night Vision Goggles (NVG), which not only increases
the safety margin but also works hand in hand with the Infra-Red systems.Both aircraft are equipped with "open
sky" radio systems as well as VHF radios.This allows for communication with virtually every LE, FD, EMS entity
operating within Oakland County.